1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a clothes hanger and, more specifically, to a hanger that improves hanging of pants or pants-blouse combinations.
2. Description of the Related Art
Pluralities of different designed hangers are placed in wardrobes to suspend various styled articles of clothing. These hangers are designed with a variety of aims: to efficiently suspend clothing; to not wrinkle clothing; to not stretch clothing; and, to conserve space. Conventional wire and plastic hangers comprise inverted v-shaped shoulders that connect to a lower bar. These hangers are typically found in most closet spaces; however, they don't successfully accomplish the foregoing aims for work-dress attire. It is often a struggle to feed pants formed of soft, drapeable linens through conventional hangers. Slight movement causes fold-alignments to shift away from predominant creases. These fabrics wrinkle easily, so inadvertent misalignment can cause the pants to become unwearable on formal occasions. A further disadvantage is created when slight shifts in pants' weight cause them to slip off of the conventional hanger.
A shift towards service sector jobs in the past few decades has created an increase in the number of white collar professionals that appropriately dress in casual-to-formal work attire. A need is thus felt for better accommodation of this attire. The present invention teaches a pants hanger that most effectively suspends pants in a manner that preserves its shape. A search of the prior art reveals no references that teach the features of the present invention; however, the following patents are considered related:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,361,949 to Petro teaches a “pants hanger with pivotable finger on lower bars” that comprises a lower bar coupled to an upper bar, and a finger pivotally joined proximate to their adjacent surfaces which capture a garment;
U.S. Design No. D295,579 to Arnold teaches a “hanger for pants, skirts or the like” that shows an arm extension below a conventional hanger's lower bar which closes against it to capture a garment;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,102,261 to Tsai teaches a “pants hanger” that comprises a spring element biasing a horizontally extended gripping arm against a horizontally extended base arm, wherein the spring element is attached at a center of the gripping arm to allow for rotation of that arm thereon so even pressure is provided against an article of clothing between the two arms; and,
U.S. Pat. No. 6,286,734 to Schneider teaches a “clothes hanger with a pants holding device” having a flexible spring element that extends somewhat parallel to a crossbar. Interlocking openings release and clamp the spring element from and to the cross bar. A disadvantage to Schneider is that pants must still be fed through the space formed between the shoulders and the lower bar.
The present invention provides a hanger having a flexible lower bar that releasably clamps on a stationary extension arm below it to close on an article. A spring exerts pressure on the grasping, lower bar to pull an opposing shoulder upwards to provide clearance for the article to be slipped between the bar and the arm. The spring is released for the former to close on the latter, so that the article is secured therebetween.